Trident Maples and root freeze

[5th element]

I keep my trees in a shed during the winter to protect from frost and wind. I have been reading that Tridents keep lots of moisture in their roots during winter, and to not let the roots freeze. I have also seen where it talks about keeping the soil moist but not wet to avoid this.
If it drops down into the low 30's-high 20's at night, when are you ever gonna be able to water the dang thing?

 

[md4958]

I keep my trees in a shed during the winter to protect from frost and wind. I have been reading that Tridents keep lots of moisture in their roots during winter, and to not let the roots freeze. I have also seen where it talks about keeping the soil moist but not wet to avoid this.
If it drops down into the low 30's-high 20's at night, when are you ever gonna be able to water the dang thing?

Once the tree goes dormant, it will need very little water. I use handfuls of snow, or if it hasnt been snowing, ice from the freezer.

 

[jk_lewis]

The roots of my tridents freeze every winter.

 

[Vance Wood]

I keep my trees in a shed during the winter to protect from frost and wind. I have been reading that Tridents keep lots of moisture in their roots during winter, and to not let the roots freeze. I have also seen where it talks about keeping the soil moist but not wet to avoid this.
If it drops down into the low 30's-high 20's at night, when are you ever gonna be able to water the dang thing?

If you complete your profile and let the forum know what State you live in you might get better answers. One person posting has made the statement that he lets the roots freesz every winter. He lives in North Carolina and can get away with this. I live in Michigan and I have found that you have a better chance of keeping one through the winter if the tree is removed from the pot and the roots mulched in a box then returned to the pot iin the spring. I am not certian what happens but it seems that when the roots expand with freezing and encounter the confinement of a pot the roots explode. At any rate they turn to snot.

 

[M. Frary]

I also live in Michigan a little farther north than Mr. Wood. Almost 200 miles to the north. A very cold and windy zone 4 almost zone 3. I don't have any trident maples but the trees I keep outside are all taken out of the pots and mulched into the ground like Vance does and they are ready to go in the spring. The reason being is the pot doesn't let the roots expand. Roots are like hoses and if you don't have someplace to let the water expand the hose bursts. Another reason I take them out of the pots for winter is I don't want a pot to crack in freezing temps. Good pot is hard to come by .

 

[md4958]

I am not certian what happens but it seems that when the roots expand with freezing and encounter the confinement of a pot the roots explode. At any rate they turn to snot.

The reason being is the pot doesn't let the roots expand. Roots are like hoses and if you don't have someplace to let the water expand the hose bursts.

So the roots bursting is a result of the roots being confined, NOT the actual freezing itself? So theoretically if the roots have not filled the pot, roots bursting shouldn't be an issue?

I had always assumed that roots, like fruit, will "macerate" when frozen because jagged ice-crystals rupture cell walls, and like Vance said, "turn to snot". In any-case, I have had large root on a trident literally split from the cold, and I would advise taking measures to protect them.

 

[jk_lewis]

One person posting has made the statement that he lets the roots freesz every winter. He lives in North Carolina and can get away with this.

The Appalachian mountains in North Carolina aren't exactly the tropics, Vance. Granted, Michigan (where I was born) gets colder and stays colder longer, but freezing is freezing.

 

[dkraft81]

So let me ask this, since its the first year I have had outdoor trees and hence my first winter for trees, should I be removing my trees from the pots and putting them in my mulched bed? Right now I have most of my trees in pots in a mulched bed. Some of my trees are in the shed and a few pines are next to my mulch bed on the ground.

Dusty

 

[Dav4]

So let me ask this, since its the first year I have had outdoor trees and hence my first winter for trees, should I be removing my trees from the pots and putting them in my mulched bed? Right now I have most of my trees in pots in a mulched bed. Some of my trees are in the shed and a few pines are next to my mulch bed on the ground.

Dusty

If they are high fired stoneware, they are impervious to frost and you, your trees and pots should be fine. However, if the pots have inner lips at the top and the soil level is at the lip, the pot could crack as the frozen soil pushes up on the lip.


...and, in MA...zone 6... I overwintered my tridents with all the other trees I had...potted...frozen solid under frozen wood chip mulch...either in my unattached garage or in the veggie garden...From late November until March or April....never had root issues...

 

[Vance Wood]

The Appalachian mountains in North Carolina aren't exactly the tropics, Vance. Granted, Michigan (where I was born) gets colder and stays colder longer, but freezing is freezing.

I am not sure anyone can tell you why this happens or even if they can succesfully identify what actually happens. I do know that Tridents grown south of the Detroit area into Ohio have winter conditions but the Tridents seem to survive fine. I think the problem is not the freezing so much as how deep they freeze and how often they thaw again and freeze again which is a common problem up here. The problem only seems to occur when the trees are wintered over in pots. I can only tell you what happens not why or how.

 

[edprocoat]

I lost several trees last fall when we had a hard freeze in the first week of October. All were potted. 3 were junipers, a barberry and a cotoneaster, the juni's just up and died, the barberry looked like it went dormant losing it leaves as did the cotoneaster. The barberry came back weakly and slowly died while the cotoneaster came back amazingly, looking at the roots the juni's roots had turned dark brown, were soft and mushy, same s the barberry while the cotoneaster lost most all of its roots. The cotoneaster grew so many leaves and filled out nicely and in the late spring I removed the other trunk and within a week it was dead. Looking at its roots I seen where the roots had actually cracked open and had tried to heal. The removal of the trunk along with the root healing and all the new pushed growth was all it could take. The juni's trunks cracked severely and all the roots had burst. I examined the roots on all after they had died. I also lost 4 nice ficus, one that I had chopped low came back and my Nice Scheffelera roots turned to mush. I was left with two juni's and a chopped ficus and the really weird thing was most my Catlin elms survived, not my cork bark seiju. The freeze also bursted 4 pots, and as Dav4 mentioned they were pots with lips pointing in.

I will not take any chances in the cold again.

ed

 

[5th element]

If you complete your profile and let the forum know what State you live in you might get better answers. One person posting has made the statement that he lets the roots freesz every winter. He lives in North Carolina and can get away with this. I live in Michigan and I have found that you have a better chance of keeping one through the winter if the tree is removed from the pot and the roots mulched in a box then returned to the pot iin the spring. I am not certian what happens but it seems that when the roots expand with freezing and encounter the confinement of a pot the roots explode. At any rate they turn to snot.

I live in the piedmont region of NC

 

[dkraft81]

What about trees in wood training boxes?

 

[Vance Wood]

I live in the piedmont region of NC

You ought to put that fact in your personal profile that appears in the upper right hand of everything you post.

 

[Vance Wood]

What about trees in wood training boxes?[/QUOTE

When in wonder when in doubt bury or mulch the entire box. In my opinion it is the roots' contact with the hard and cold ceramic material of a pot that causes the problem.
There is always some give in a wooden box.